Poster board



May 21, 1929. P, E, m so I 1,713,903

POSTER BOARD Filed Sept. 2, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet l ATORNEYS.

May 21, 1929. P. E. HINKISON 1,713,903

' POSTER BOARD Filed Sept. 2, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Patented May 21, 1929.

UNITED STATES PARK E. HINKSON, F MADISON, WISCONSIN.

IPOSTER BOARD.

Application filed September 2, 1927. Serial No. 217,037.

This invention relates to improvements in poster boards.

It is the primary object of the invention to provide a novel form of poster board adapted for assembly from unitary sections and .so organized as to lend itself to manufacture entirely from metal whereby to avoid numerous difficulties experienced in the use of wood exposed to the weather conditions to which such boards are subjected.

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel form of interlock between adjacent sections of the panel whereby the completed panel will necessarily present a substantially smooth and uninterrupted surface having only such joints as are effectively sealed against the passage of wind. It will be understood that wind blowing through any crevice in a poster board makes it very dif 2o ficult to apply any poster smoothly thereto.

It is a further object of the invention to provide novel, inexpensive and easily operable means for securing to the metal or wooden cross members of a poster board frame the various panel sections of the poster board and particularly to provide a form of securing means adapted to co-operate with the interlocking portions of the panel sections to draw such portions snugly and rigidly together.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the poster board embodying this invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof with the integral molding and cap member of this invention removed to expose the mounting of the panel sections upon the cross members of the frame.

Figure 3 is a detail view of a preferred form of panel section anchored for use with frames having wooden cross members.

Figures f and 5 are detail views in rear elevation and side elevation, respectively, showing a preferred form of anchorage for use with angle iron cross members.

Figures 6 and 7 are detail views in rear elevation and side elevation, respectively, showing a universal form of anchorage adapted for use cit-her with wooden or angle iron cross members.

Figure 8 is a view in perspective showing in transverse section the ends of two contiguous panels or improved poster board embodying this invention.

Figure 9 is a detail View in perspective of the end of a combination molding and cap of a poster board embodying this invention.

F igure 10 is a detail in perspective of the end of a lower molding and cap embodying this invention.

Figure 11 is a detail of a metallic lattice unit for use in connection with a poster board embodying this invention. i Like parts are identified by the same ref erence characters throughout the several views.

A standard poster board assembly includes aframe 15 having uprights 16 mounted on the front anchor posts 17 and braced from rear anchor posts 18. The uprights are connected at intervals by cross members 20 which are preferably made of angle iron, but are sometimes made of wood and to which the panel 21 is fastened. The panel must have a substantially plane surface in order that posters may be applied thereto and scraped therefrom with a minimum of difliculty. Also, the entire surface must be substantially free of crevices through Which the wind might blow to make the application of posters diflicult. It is desired to avoid the use of nails through the panel surface because nails rende r such surfaces irregular.

The panel is framed by a molding and capping strip hereinafter to be described in more detail. The side and top members 22 may be identical, but the bottom strip 23 is preferably constructed with some differences.

Below the panel 21 is a lattice 24 which, like the rest of the poster board, is preferably made entirely of metal as shown more particularly in Figure 11.

Having now described the general organization of the device, I shall describe the various parts in detail.

This invention contemplates the construction of the poster panel from a number of identical units of section 25 which extend vertically and are constructed to interlock with adjacent sections in the manner illustrated in Figure 8.

Each of the panel sections comprises a shallow channel member having a plane front surface forming a part of. the poster panel 21, and rearwardly extending flanges at 26 and 27. In making each of these flanges, the metal is preferably bent back upon itself at the margins of the sheet of which the unit is constructed in order to give additional strength and the flanges are then bent rearwardly at right angles with reference to the plane front surface of the panel. Flange 26 is single and comprises a tongue. Flange 27 includes an additional fold to provide a groove as shown at 28 at the right hand side of Figure 8, in which the tongue of an adjacent section is receivable as indicated in the center of Figure 8. In this way each panel section is designed for interlocking connection with panel sections of like nature at either side thereof and a panel may be built up out of such sections to any desired horizontal length.

I have found that a combination of two systems of reinforcement for these panels is successfully co-operative to produce the desired rigidity. Each panel is preferably provided at its extreme ends with one or more relatively deep transversely embossed ribs 29 which are concave in the front face of the panel and convex at the rear. Extending longitudinally of the panel from one end to the other thereof is a re-inforcement strip 30 of the form clearly indicated in Figure 8 having its intermediate portion 31 spaced from the center line of the panel and having its lateral flange portions 32 spot welded at intervals to the rear face of the panel section. Spot welding is preferable to other securing means because of the absence of distortion of the exposed front face of the panel.

Each of the rearwardly extending flanges 26 and 27 of each panel is provided with an arcuate slot 3334. It will be noted that the slots 33 and 34 are of opposite curvature in the tongue flanges 26 and the groove flanges 27, respectively. These slots are adapted to receive a peculiar form of securing device cooperative therewith to draw the panel sec tions closely together and to insure them against separation.

Specifically different embodiments of these securing devices are shown in Figures 3 to 7, inclusive. Each such device includes a tension member 35, a hook 36, means for engaging the cross member of the poster board frame and means for drawing up the tension member.

The Figure 3 construction is adapted for use primarily in connection with frames having wooden cross members 29. In this device the means for drawing up the tension member comprises a head 36 thereon to which an ordinary claw hammer may be applied and fulcrumed upon the wooden cross member 20 to subject the tension element 35 to tension. When the desired tension is secured, the end of grooved flange 27 snugly particularly adapted for angle iron cross members or channel iron cross members. Tension member 40 is provided with a hook 41 similar to book 36 previously described and is threadedat its extremity to receive nut 42 which comprises the means for subjecting it to tension. Nut 42'engages an eye 43 in the double hook 44, the shanks of which abut the rear face of angle iron cross member 20 of the frame and the hooks of which engage therebeneath as shown at 45.

The device shown in Figures 6 and 7 is adapted for use with either metal or wooden cross members. Tension member 40 with its hook 41 and nut 42 are identical with the corresponding parts shown in Figures 4 and 5. The device shown engaging the cross member, however, is distinctive and comprises a stamping 47 having one or more prongs 48 bent upwardly at its lower end to be driven into the wooden cross member 20 if used with wood. If the device is used with angle iron, the prongs may be bent upwardly to make a hook similar to that shown in Figures 4 and 5. If the device is used with a channel iron cross member, the upper flange of the channel iron is receivable in the space 49 which is formed by bending down a central tongue 50 and bending over arms 51 formed of the material at either side of the tongue. Arms 51 and tongue 50 are vertically spaced and substantially parallel, whereby to be adapted to receive the flange of the channel iron to enable the tension member 40'to be drawn tight.

In each instance it will be observed that the various forms of securing devices herein disclosed are adapted to have their hook portions 36 or 41 engaged in the aperture formed by the registry of a slot 34 with a slot 33. The fact that these slots are of opposite curvature or inclination insures their registry despite any slight misalignment of the respective sections in which the slots are formed. Moreover it enables the hook 36 or 41 of the tension member .to act more or less individually on the flanges of the respective sections at the point engaged by the hook. In this way, I insure the provision of registering apertures to be engaged quickly and easily by each of the securing devices and I am also able by means of the securing device to perfect the interlocking of any two sections which may have been left loose before the tensioning device isoperated. The securing mechanisms thus have the function not only of fastening the several sections to the frame, but are furthermore adapted to draw up the sections into a more perfect interlock wherever relative movement between them is possible.

\Vhen the several sections have been interlocked and fastened at their interlocking edges to the several cross members intersected by such edges, the panel surface is complete in readiness for receiving posters. If the board were left iii this condition, however, the ends of the angle iron cross members 20 would be exposed at the ends of the panel and moreover the board would have an unfinished appearance and rain would be apt to loosen a poster at its margins. In order to finish the board, therefore, I apply a molding and capping strip preferably constructed integrally in accordance with this invention in the form clearly shown in Figures 9 and 10. a The molding and cap strip designated by reference character 22 in Figure 1 is made up in units, each unit in reality constituting a tube of extremely irregular cross section. One side 55 ofeach such tube comprises the molding and is surmounted by an overhanging ledge portion 56 and top wall 57 which comprises the cap. From the cap, the rear Wall 58 is downwardly and forwardly inelined to a deep channel section 60 which receives the side and end margins of the sectional poster board together with the exposed portions of the frame to which the poster board sections are secured. The front wall or molding 55 and the rear wall 58 merge with channel 60 at the lower margins thereof and a brace 61 is preferably used internally of the tubular molding and capping units to support the cap part of each unit from the top of channel 60.

Any desired number of units 22 may be assembled together like stove pipe. Each unit has a male end 62 crimped as shown in Figure 9 and bounded by a bead 63. This crimped end and bead are adapted respectively to receive and limit the complementary female end of a corresponding unit, or the similarly formed terminal portions of the ornamental corner pieces 65.

The units already described are adapted for use at the sides and across the top of my improved poster board and when so used are adapted to shed water so that rain will not find its way beneath the margins of posters applied to the board. It will be obvious, however, that if such a unit were used across the lower margin of the board thechannel 60 would trap and retain rain water. Accordingly, the lower margin is finished with sections 23 which are tubular and fit together in exactly the same way as the sections previously described and resemble such sections from the front of the poster board. Sections 23, however, are so designed that the channel 60 is eliminated and the wall 66 which abuts the poster board panel surface terminates in a shoulder 67 which. rests beneath the lower margin of thepanel without any possibility of trapping or retaining water.

It is particularly desirable that a poster board should be finished with a metal lattice in place of a Wooden lattice which is ordinarily used. This lattice extends between the supporting uprights of the frame beneath the poster board panel and when made of wood in accordance with common practice it is frequently destroyed by means of fires started for the purpose of burning grass and weeds in the vicinity of the poster board. I have discovered how such a lattice may be made integrally from sheet metal in accordance with the disclosure of Figure '11. a

At intervals, the sheet metal is bent forwardly to provide rearwardly opening channels with front faces 67 and side Walls, 68 and 69. These vertically extending channels correspond to and have the appearance of the usual vertical strips of a wooden lattice. The metal Web 7 0 intermediate the vertical channels is cut at intervals along the side margins of the respective channels at 71 and 72, the corresponding cuts being joined by a transverse cut along the broken line indicated at 72. The tongues of metal thus formed are bent rearwardly as shown at 7 4t and 75 and the surplus material is folded under to afford additional strength. By this arrangement the vertical channels of the lattice unit are oined at intervals by short transverse channel sections made up of web portions 70 and rearwardly projecting tongues or flanges 74 and 7 5. When viewed from a position in front or anywhere near the front of the completed unit, this lattice will very closely approximate the appearance of the common wooden lattice and yet it is made integrally without joints through simple stamping and folding operations.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that a completed poster board made in accordance with this invention and provided with the tubular trim and lattice above described will beas attractive in appearance as the usual poster board and will be far more practical, presenting a much better operating surface for the attachment of posters and having a much longer life than the average board.

I have illustrated merely preferred embodiments of the various features entering into this invention and I do not wish to be limited to the precise disclosure in view of the fact that various modifications will be obvious within the scope of the appended claims.

In the description and claims herein whereever the term poster board is used, itis understood that this is to include a board with paint directly on the metal surface, as Well as a board to which paper posters, cloth and metal signs, or signs made of other materials may be fastened by pasting or other means.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with a skeleton frame having transverse members, of a panel comprising a plurality of vertically extending sections with rearwardly extending flanges in abutment between the several sections and provided with elongated slots of opposite inclination registering to provide openings through abutting flanges, and tension means provided with flange engaging portions projecting through said apertures and through portions engaged with said members, whereby said tension means is adapted to hold said flanges together and said sections to the transverse members of said frame.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a plurality of similar panel sections having rearwardly extending flanges of tongue and groove formation at the opposite sides of the respective sections, the flanges of adjacent sections being interlocked and provided with slots of opposite inclina tion intersecting to provide an aperture through the interlocked flanges, a transverse support against which said flanges abut, a support engaging member, a hook, and a tension element connecting said hook and member and provided with means for drawing said flanges to said support.

3. The combination with a frame and a panel mounted thereon and comprising a series of similar sections secured to each other and to said frame, of a tubular molding and cap strip provided unitarily with a channel extending longitudinally of said strip and embracing a margin of said panel.

4. The combination with a frame and a panel mounted thereon and comprising a series of similar sections secured to each other and to said frame, of a tubular molding and cap strip provided unitarily witha channel extending longitudinally of said strip and embracing a margin of said panel, said tubular molding and cap strip being in slip joint connection with a similar strip likewise embracing a margin of said panel.

5. A device of the character described including a frame, a panel made up of sheet metal sections secured to each other and to said frame, and a tubular section molding and cap for said panel.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a poster board panel section comprising unitarily a sheet metal face member with rearwardly projecting flanges one of which comprises a tongue flange and the other of which is folded upon itself to provide a channel for the reception of a tongue flange on a similar section, said flanges being provided with correspondingly located apertures one of which is elongated and angularly inclined relative to said flanges.

7 As a new article of manufacture, a poster board panel section comprising unitarily a sheet metal face member with rearwardly projecting flanges one of which comprises a tongue flangeand the other of which is folded upon itself to provide a channel for the reception of a tongue flange on a similar section, the respective flanges being provided with correspondingly located slots of diflering inclination.

8. As a new article of manufacture, a poster board panel section comprising unitarily a sheet metal face member with rearwardly projecting flanges, said flanges being provided with correspondingly located apertures one of which is elongated and angularly inclined relative to said flanges.

9. In a device of the character described, the combination of a plurality of similar pane1 sections having rearwardly extending flanges provided with correspondingly located apertures one of which is elongated and angularly inclined relative to said flanges, a transverse support against which said flanges abut, a. support engaging member provided with a flange engaging portion projecting through said apertures, whereby said support engaging member is adapted to hold said flanges together and said sections to the transverse support.

PARK E. HINKSON. 

